Friday, June 29, 2012

Why They Need To Pull The Plug on Love and Hip Hop ATL

I'm about two episodes into Love and Hip Hop ATL and I'm not feeling it one bit. As a brother who lives in ATL I know first hand that this city is full of talented individuals who stay on their hustle. On any given day you can find brothers and sisters attempting to peddle their projects to anyone willing to give them a listen. So believe me there's no shortage of raw talent in this city which makes me wonder how do these casting people pick and choose who's going to be on these damn reality shows but I digress.

The meat and potatoes of this blog entry is I think the show is fake, plain and simple. I watched the first episode and recall thinking this mess is bogus -- reminded me of those low budget movies BET always plays. Why couldn't it be more like Love and Hip Hop in NY which was more authentic. The drama, the beefs, the good times, etc., all seemed like the real deal, even Momma Jones's antics seemed like they came from a real place.

The first red flag - this character Stevie J. I refer to him as a character because that's exactly how he comes across -- like a TV character that someone whipped up. I mean I can't get over how this guy acts. He reminds me of the type of guy that try too hard at being smooth and no one else thinks he's smooth, but himself. I understand he's a talented well known super producer blah blah blah, but all that says nothing for his acting ability. He may be a talented producer but acting isn't his forte. I mean like is this garbage supposed to be a reality show or amateur night at the acting academy?

The second red flag - was this manly looking Rhianna look-alike named Joseline Hernandez. I assume she's latina but when she opens her mouth it sounds like a country bama with a bad spanish accent. I can only explain it as the most confusing yet annoying accent I've heard thus far. It's obvious that her 'role' on the show is the villain but she's more like a broke man's Omarosa. *A really broke man's version.

Every reality show needs a recipe for success. You need fun and excitement, drama, sprinkled with lovable people the viewers like and identify with, then add a dash of the bad guy (or gal) everyone loves to hate. Mix that all together, and bake -- voila! You have a good reality show.

I don't know what recipe VH1 decided to use for this show but it's a hot mess. It's so bad I think the producers even recognized how bad it turned out and looked to scripting to salvage this trash. If anyone from the show approaches me and tells me the show is real and unscripted I'm going to reference them to episode two, Mimi and Stevie J's sit down where she produces a contract asking for 20% of his business. The face he made was obviously supposed to be one of intense anger but it was poorly executed:

Every questionable part of the show for some reason seems to revolve around Stevie J. Mimi suspecting him of cheating and catches him with Joseline then basically does nothing but make idle threats set off my third and final major red flag. In the real world that situation would result in someone catching a beat down, nothing less then getting a two piece and I'm not talking about a chicken dinner either. Speaking of that particular scene, I felt it took the show to an all time low because I couldn't help but think, it made me feel like I was watching Cheaters (another fake show by the way).

The only good part about the show (aside from the credits signaling the end) is Lil Scrappy, his child's mother, the delicious Karlie Redd and Rasheedah; even though her spazzin' out on her husband was a little suspect to me. I guess we'll have to wait and see how much more of this crap the public will tolerate, and how long will VH1 and the cast deny the show is heavily scripted.